CW: racism, casual ableism, pregnancy & birth (graphic/on page), violence, alcohol use, drug use mentioned, gun violence, police brutality, death of a parent mentioned, infertility & miscarriage mentioned, classism, bullying, violence, child abuse

this type of contemporary isn't usually my go-to, so I had a bit of a hard time getting into it, but overall a really good read. Johnson has a way with words and I'd be interested in what she writes next.

The best parts of this book were the intimate exchanges between the characters and the descriptions of everyday life.  The book fell short when it added in social commentary that was disguised as reflective thought.  It is hard to believe that the character would have such clarity of thought at that moment.

The Kindest Lie skillfully weaves together the experiences and perspectives of multiple characters in a floundering small town to present a novel where there are no easy answers. Johnson excels at giving her characters unique voices and slowly unraveling their life story to explain who they've become and why. Ironically, the character I felt least compelled by was Ruth. Her naivety and lack of planning frustrated me at times, while in other scenarios her dialogue read too perfect to believe a real person would react how she was. Luckily by the end of the book I felt like Ruth had matured into accepting more responsibility for herself while still speaking her truth. Otherwise, I thought each of the characters were written very authentically, and that Johnson obviously did the research to ensure they would be. The book was much less dramatic than I had expected it to be, which isn't a negative feature. Instead of using flashy, scandalous tropes, Johnson grabs the reader's attention by pitting Ruth's differing responsibilities against each other to a devastating effect. Ultimately, this is a story about the weight of the sacrifices families must make to protect their youngest members, and how Black families are always expected to sacrifice more. I would recommend this book to other readers, especially those looking for stories with multifaceted narratives about race and class in the United States.

 The Kindest Lie opens on the eve of Obama’s 2008 victory. Ruth and her husband are a well-educated, financially comfortable Black couple. He is eager to start a family but she is uncertain because when she was 17 she had a baby that was put up for adoption. He’s upset she didn’t tell him sooner; she flees to her family home, somewhere she hasn’t visited in over 4 years and begins to search for information about her child.

While this was a perfectly fine book it fell a little short for me and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hope. What worked well for me was the exploration of the intersection of race and class - the ways the lives of working class Blacks and whites were similar and the ways they’d diverged, plus similarities and differences between working class Blacks and those who were at least middle-class. The portrayal of a small town suffering from an economic downturn, and the scenes showing police attitudes and behaviour towards Blacks were also well done. The family drama component of the plot also worked reasonably well. I may not have agreed with the way Mama handled the baby’s adoption but I understood her motivation, and Ruth’s reaction when she learnt the truth of it.

Where I struggled especially was with Ruth who often seemed selfish and self-centred. Some of that could perhaps be put down to her struggles as a Black woman from a poorer background and for having had decisions regarding her baby’s adoption made for her. However, the way she revealed herself to that child seemed inexcusable with the focus on her wants not his needs. Too often the book told rather than showed, and did so in a way that I failed to find convincing. Ruth’s friendship with Midnight is just one example. The ending also seemed a little too quick and neat to be satisfying or believable.

To reiterate, a perfectly fine book that didn’t fully click for me.